“The new formula is not confusing. Everybody we’ve talked to understands this new formula. Nobody understands MAEP.”

That’s how House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, described his proposed rewrite of the state’s school funding formula, the bill for which dropped late Thursday evening.

But pinpointing the sources of money for his proposal is a head scratcher.

Figures circulated by EdBuild, which was hired in 2016 by the Legislature to make recommendations to the state's current formula, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, show the majority of school districts stand to receive more money if the plan is approved.

At a minimum, the group projected the Legislature during a five-year phase-in would have to spend $107 million more than it currently does now.

The basics of Gunn’s plan are simple: Schools would receive $4,800 for each student enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Additional money would be allocated for students learning English and for those in households below the poverty line. Schools would also receive extra money for special education students based on their category of eligibility. The state would also spend more on high school students in an effort to fund advanced coursework and vocational education.

EdBuild recommended that the Legislature remove a provision of MAEP that caps the total amount districts have to contribute toward the formula at 27 percent.

On Tuesday, Sibilia referred to what's known as the 27 percent rule as "inequitable," "illogical" and "not good for kids."

In opting to the preserve the rule, Gunn's plan runs against EdBuild's recommendations.

That move protects some affluent school systems such as Madison County and Pascagoula, which stand to lose millions if the rule is eliminated.

Property rich doesn’t mean residents in such areas earn above the state’s median wage, however. School districts in Kemper and Choctaw County also benefit from the rule.

Rebecca Sibilia, the CEO of EdBuild, told the House Democratic Caucus on Tuesday that the formula in its first year of implementation would cost $53 million more than the Legislature currently spends on public education.

Some of the funding needed, Gunn’s Chief of Staff Nathan Wells said Thursday, could be diverted from the more than $200 million in education funds that the state spends outside of the current MAEP formula.

One pot of money that the Legislature could shift money from is the state’s vocational and technical education funds. Lawmakers appropriated roughly $97 million for high schools and community colleges for the current year.

House Education Chairman Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, told the Associated Press some of those funds could shift into the new formula.

It’s unlikely, however, that all districts will embrace the new amounts as a funding increase if the targeted revenue sources are already funds schools are receiving under different appropriations.

Such a shift might also bolster the claims of MAEP proponents who have argued that top lawmakers' efforts to overhaul the state’s school funding formula are more motivated by an effort to escape criticism than to improve education.

“Number one: Keep your eye on the prize,” Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, said in a speech to fellow Senate Democrats Thursday. “What this is all about is getting off the books an existing formula. The existing formula is an objective method for determining how much schools get. The formula clearly shows that this Legislature is shortchanging them $200 million this year. As long as this is on the books, it creates political problems.”

For their part, Republican leaders have been clear that they want lawmakers to have more flexibility with education spending.

House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, is sponsoring legislation that would replace the state's current school funding formula.(Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)

“That’s how you budget. That’s how we’ve been budgeting. That’s how you budget at your house. That’s how businesses budget. They take how much money they have and they spend it. That’s what we’re going to do,” Gunn said.

The House Education and Appropriations committees will hold a joint meeting on the bill on Monday.

Lawmakers face a Feb. 8 deadline of passing the measure in the full House.